IKEA store expects to hire 500 employees
IKEA, the home furnishing store under construction in Stoughton, plans to hire 500 workers, beginning with a hiring event Aug. 13 that is expected to be the area's biggest in recent memory.
The jobs range from sales to security to interior design. ''I can't think of anybody else that has come to town in a big way like this," said Terry Schneider, president of Stoughton Chamber of Commerce. Other larger businesses in town such as Kohls and Bob's Discount Furniture have fewer than 100 workers, he said.
The line to work for the company already has begun to form in cyberspace. Since the company announced that it would be building a store in Stoughton, hundreds of e-mails inquiring about employment have poured in, said an IKEA spokesman.
The company's culture -- flexible hours, full-time benefits for those who work as little as 20 hours a week -- has landed it on Working Mother magazine's annual list of the ''100 Best Companies For Working Mothers" list for two consecutive years and on Fortune magazine's ''100 Best Companies to Work For" list.
IKEA's arrival is anticipated to further lower Stoughton's unemployment rate. In June 2004, it was 5.2 percent, according to the state Division of Career Centers and Division of Unemployment Assistance. In June 2005, the unemployment rate dropped to 4.7 percent -- just below the state unemployment rate of 4.8 percent. The town has a labor force of 15,121.
''Generally from a statewide perspective it's exciting news that Stoughton and the region will have the presence of a nationally known store like IKEA," said Linnea Walsh, director of communications for the state Departments of Labor and Workforce Development. ''The 500 jobs or so being generated is certainly good news."
It is also a sign that the economy is on the right track upward, said Walsh. Although IKEA's moves generate a lot of buzz because of its international stature, over the past few months officials of other companies in the region have indicated that they too are planning to expand and increase their work force by a few hundred workers, said Walsh. She declined to name those companies.
''The interesting thing is that there is job growth in a wider number of sectors, not just in leisure and hospitality," she said.
IKEA's hiring event is scheduled for Aug. 13 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at F1 Boston, a racing and entertainment facility in Braintree. Twenty to 40 IKEA representatives will interview job candidates for home furnishings sales, interior decoration, customer service, safety and security, cashier, maintenance, goods flow, receiving, warehouse, stock replenishment, and other positions. The company, which has 8,000 workers in the United states and 84,000 globally, plans to fill 100 food service positions for its 300-seat Swedish-influenced restaurant planned for the Route 24 facility, which is expected to open in November.
Joseph Roth, a spokesman for IKEA, refers to potential employees as ''coworkers" in keeping with the team-based culture the company fosters. Company representatives will be looking for workers who fit that culture, he said. ''They need to be interested in home furnishing, decorating, rearranging things in the home or finding solutions for problems, and customer focused."
Interviewers will talk to candidates individually as well as in group settings to get a sense of their interaction with other job candidates. ''We like to think of ourselves as a family and everyone needs to be on the same team," said Roth.
Company officials have worked with local hiring agencies, including the Brockton Area Workforce Investment Board and some career centers to make sure the word gets out about the hiring opportunity, said Roth.
At the Employment and Training Resources office in Norwood, the IKEA job event is posted on the bulletin board for all who visit the career center to see, said Anne Whooley.
Jobs like the ones IKEA is offering will provide at least temporary employment for people who have trained as engineers and information technology experts, but who can find no jobs in those areas. ''We have a lot of people willing to take these jobs because the original job they were looking for that would meet their skill set is not there now," she said. ''Now, they are looking for a job that takes into account some of their skill sets or maybe it is a hobby for them, like painting."
The Chamber's Schneider sees IKEA's 346,000-foot store as a boost to the local economy as well, because it will bring more than $1 million in commercial property taxes to the town.
''I'm hoping a substantial part of that will go to the schools and that can only be good," he said. ''That's our future."
For more information about IKEA go to http://JobsAt.IKEA-usa.com. F1 Boston is located at 290 Wood Road in Braintree.
Sandy Coleman can be reached at sbcoleman@globe.com. 
